Equal and No Longer Separate: Examining Quality of Care Provided by Osteopathic and Allopathic Physicians
Authors: Charlie M. Wray, J. Bryan Carmody
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2023)

EditorialsJune 2023Equal and No Longer Separate: Examining Quality of Care Provided by Osteopathic and Allopathic PhysiciansCharlie M. Wray, DO, MS, and J. Bryan Carmody, MD, MPHCharlie M. Wray, DO, MSDepartment of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, Section of Hospital Medicine, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System, San Francisco, California, and J. Bryan Carmody, MD, MPHDepartment of Pediatrics, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VirginiaAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M23-1165 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail In 1864, a frontier physician named Andrew Taylor Still watched helplessly as 3 of his own children died of bacterial meningitis. There was little he could have done. Louis Pasteur had articulated his germ theory only a few years before, and Alexander Fleming would not discover penicillin for another 64 years. Without effective therapies, the medical establishment at the time used unproven and dangerous therapies that Still abhorred. Over the decades that followed, Still developed an alternative philosophy of medicine, one that focused on healing through manual manipulation of the musculoskeletal system. Still called this philosophy osteopathy, and in 1892, founded ...References1. American Osteopathic Association. OMP report. Accessed at https://osteopathic.org/about/aoa-statistics/ on 19 April 2023. Google Scholar2. Miyawaki A, Jena AB, Gross N, et al. Comparison of hospital outcomes for patients treated by allopathic versus osteopathic hospitalists. An observational study. Ann Intern Med. 2023;176:798-806. doi:10.7326/M22-3723 LinkGoogle Scholar3. KFF. Total number of medical school graduates. Accessed at www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/total-medical-school-graduates/ on 19 April 2023. Google Scholar4. American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. Applicants. Accessed at https://archive.aacom.org/reports-programs-initiatives/aacom-reports/applicants on 26 April 2023. Google Scholar5. Association of American Medical Colleges. 2022 facts: applicants and matriculants data. Accessed at www.aamc.org/data-reports/students-residents/data/2022-facts-applicants-and-matriculants-data on 26 April 2023. Google Scholar6. Ahmed H, Kortz M, Carmody JB. An update on medical school accreditation in the United States: implications for the single graduate medical education (GME) era [Editorial]. Cureus. 2023;15:e34884. [PMID: 36925971] doi:10.7759/cureus.34884 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. United States Medical Licensing Examination. Performance data. Accessed at www.usmle.org/performance-data on 25 April 2023. Google Scholar8. Cummings M. The single accreditation system: risks to the osteopathic profession. Acad Med. 2021;96:1108-1114. [PMID: 33788786] doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000004109 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Healy CJ, Brockway MD, Wilde BB. Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) use among osteopathic physicians in the United States. J Osteopath Med. 2021;121:57-61. [PMID: 33512391] doi:10.1515/jom-2020-0013 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. National Resident Matching Program. Charting outcomes in the Match reports are now available. Accessed at www.nrmp.org/about/news/2022/07/charting-outcomes-in-the-match-reports-are-now-available/ on 26 April 2023. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Charlie M. Wray, DO, MS; J. Bryan Carmody, MD, MPHAffiliations: Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, Section of Hospital Medicine, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System, San Francisco, CaliforniaDepartment of Pediatrics, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VirginiaDisclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M23-1165.Corresponding Author: Charlie M. Wray, DO, MS, Division of Hospital Medicine, San Francisco VA Medical Center, University of California San Francisco, 4150 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA 94121; e-mail, Charlie.[email protected]edu.This article was published at Annals.org on 30 May 2023. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoComparison of Hospital Outcomes for Patients Treated by Allopathic Versus Osteopathic Hospitalists Atsushi Miyawaki , Anupam B. Jena , Nate Gross , and Yusuke Tsugawa Metrics Current IssueJune 2023Volume 176, Issue 6Page: 868-869KeywordsGraduate medical educationHealth care qualityHospital medicineHospitalizationsOsteopathy ePublished: 30 May 2023 Issue Published: June 2023 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2023 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...